Extension and format, format and extension ; two concepts that we often use as synonyms and also one instead of the other . We do not know or do not realize it, but the truth is that these are different and, logically, they refer to two aspects that, although they are related, are not equal.
The similarities have undoubtedly made us dance between both concepts, use them when it does not apply and, best of all, that our interlocutor understands us because the phenomenon is widespread worldwide >.
If you want to know once and for all what each one of them is, how they look alike and how they differ, keep reading with us because we are going to solve this doubt that so many users have and maintain.
What is a file format and what is it for?
The file format is the standard, that is, the set of circumstances, which will define what form the information is to be grouped into a file computer type.
For its reading to be possible it is necessary that such information can be converted into binary data. The set of characteristics that are achieved after shaping said information and the order in which the files where the information is stored are classified would be the format. That is, the set of particularities that make that a file is of one type and has some features and not others.
For example, there are video files. However, not all of them have the same format. Why? Because, despite being all videos , that is, containing audio and moving image, that information has been worked on and reproduced in a particular way . Each of those ways will be a format . Knowing them serves to know how the file we want to download will be.
The data is handled differently in each format, causing the information to be stored, providing it with a series of features. That is, how information is encoded .
In general, softwares that create files in a particular format are capable of reading and / or modifying similar ones. For example, with an office suite we can read a plain text document that we have generated in the simple notebook . You can open a PDF in Photoshop. You can run some files for Linux on a Windows, etc.
What is a file extension and what is it for?
A file extension are the last letters of the name with which the software that creates the file in question calls it. It is, as we say, a “queue” that is automatically placed (whether we see it or not) to the archives. This is alphanumeric, with between one and five characters, preceded by a period .
For example, when we download the image of a cat we call it “kitty”. However, when it is saved we see that it is called «kitty.jpeg». This “.jpeg” is the extension, the “queue” added.
This is so that the system that reads the file knows what type of file it is and, with it, how it can be opened and what its characteristics will be .
This refers to a format and is called the same as it is on many occasions. However, this does not always have to be this way . It is possible that the extension of a file refers to a container, which includes elements with different formats .
Thus, we can tell you that, no matter how much you change the extension of a file, that is, delete the “.jpeg” and put, for example “.gif”, the format will be the same. The only thing that can happen is that a conflict is created because you will be telling your team that this file is of a type, it will try to execute it and it will not be able to . So, no matter how much you try to convert a song into a video by changing from “.mp3” to “.mp4”, that miracle is not going to happen.
If you want to change the format of a file, but not changing the extension. You will have to use a program (software) capable of reading it, interpreting it, modifying it and transforming it, saving it with another format and, therefore, changing its characteristics.
Clear example: You have worked with Photoshop and saved the file as a .psd by default . Obviously, when you want to open it in Paint you won’t be able to.
You will have to do is reopen it with Photoshop, make the corresponding modifications (for example, join all the layers of the file), “Save as …” and, now, choose the format with the characteristics you want for that file (jpeg, tiff, etc).
Differences between format and file extension; Are they the same?
From the previous definitions and examples we can see that no, extension and file format are not the same. The format is the form given to information . That is, a standard with certain characteristics that make a file of one type or another, be reproduced under certain circumstances, in certain software, etc.
The extension is the name given to the file so we know what format or container it is; allows us to distinguish the content .
Sometimes the name of the file, the extension, will be the same as the format, but sometimes not. Thus, we cannot say that both concepts are synonyms because , although the difference is difficult to appreciate, especially if you do not have knowledge about creating files, it is true that are two things totally different, even if they are related .
You may say «but I, reading the extension, know what features a file has». In fact, you know it but not because they correspond to the extension itself but because it refers to the characteristics of a format. And that is the trick, “refers” not “is” .
Turning it around, we can say that the format is what the file is and the extension is what it tells us .